Lost Souls of Leningrad: A Novel

by Suzanne Parry Narrated by Nancy Peterson

Overview

June 1941. Hitler's armies race toward vulnerable Leningrad. In a matter of weeks, the Nazis surround the city, cut off the food supply, and launch a vicious bombardment. Widowed violinist Sofya Karavayeva and her teenage granddaughter, Yelena, are cornered in the crumbling city.



On Leningrad's outskirts, Admiral Vasili Antonov defends his homeland and fights for a future with Sofya. Meanwhile, Yelena's soldier fiancé transports food across the Ice Road-part of the desperate effort to save Leningrad. With their help, the two women inch toward survival, but the war still exacts a steep personal price, even as Sofya's reckoning with a family secret threatens to finish what Hitler started.



Equal parts war epic, family saga, and love story, Lost Souls of Leningrad brings to vivid life this little-known chapter of World War II in a tale of two remarkable women-grandmother and granddaughter-separated by years and experience but of one heart in their devotion to each other and the men they love. Neither the oppression of Stalin nor the brutality of Hitler can destroy their courage, compassion, or will in this testament to resilience.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Medalist in Military/Wartime Fiction
2022 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner in War & Military (Adult Fiction)

“. . . amazing, heart-grabbing, and stunning . . .” 
—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

“With the Russian attack on Ukraine fresh in the imagination of readers, the wartime horrors of the siege and the emotional toll on the victims ring true. Parry has transformed her impressive research into a vigorous story of how love vanquishes despair.”
—Library Journal

“Set in 1941 Leningrad, this tension-filled, well-crafted WWII historical novel tells the harrowing story of Sofya Karavayeva, a widowed violinist, and Yelena, her spirited, young granddaughter. . . . Through masterfully created characters and vivid dialogue, this powerful, inspiring saga brings to the forefront the overwhelming challenges of the daily life of those ‘lost in Leningrad’ during one of the most treacherous periods in Russian history. . . . Lost Souls of Leningrad is a thought-provoking, disturbing, and compassionate portrayal of war’s impact and how the lives of ordinary people are forever changed.”
—Historical Novels Review

“This is historical fiction that feels ripped from today’s headlines . . . an engaging portrayal of love and survival in wartime.”
—Debra Dean, best-selling author of New York Times Editor’s Choice The Madonnas of Leningrad

“Lost Souls of Leningrad is a sweeping, heartbreaking, and life-affirming saga. . . . A remarkable and immersive book that belongs on the shelf with Life and Fate.” 
—Kim Taylor Blakemore, best-selling author of The Companion and After Alice Fell

“With the devastating siege of Leningrad as the backdrop, a widowed violinist and her teenage daughter struggle to survive. In Suzanne Parry’s Lost Souls of Leningrad, the despair and brutality of war is evoked through a tender human story of love, family, music, and hope. A stirring novel I couldn’t put down!”
—Linda Kass, author of Tasa’s Song and A Ritchie Boy

“Lost Souls of Leningrad dives into the personal story of a family navigating one of the major atrocities of modern history. Told with the authority that only a scholar can provide, combined with the chops of a natural storyteller, this book is a can’t-put-down triumph.”
—Suzy Vitello, author of Faultland, The Empress Chronicles,and The Moment Before

Library Journal

07/01/2022

DEBUT The 1941 siege of Leningrad has fascinated novelists time and again. This debut historical novel was inspired by Parry's longstanding interest in Russia. Her heroines are teenage Yelena and her widowed grandmother, Sofya. They face mortal perils as Hitler assaults the heart of Russia. Starvation is inevitable as food depots are bombed and winter arrives. The women are buoyed by the love of their sweethearts. Sofya's lover is an admiral, but she has kept an immense secret from him for decades. Yelena's young lover drives in the convoys that supply the city from Lake Ladoga. Sofya and Yelena perform heroic deeds but also bad acts as they struggle to survive. With the Russian attack on Ukraine fresh in the imagination of readers, the wartime horrors of the siege and the emotional toll on the victims ring true. Parry has transformed her impressive research into a vigorous story of how love vanquishes despair. VERDICT Like the novels of Helen Dunmore, David Benioff, and others, Parry's work covers appalling agonies. There is an O. Henry quality in the revelation of an amazing connection among the characters. Readers of Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea will enjoy the action focused on the teenager.—Barbara Conaty

Kirkus Reviews

2022-07-18
A Russian family struggles through World War II in Parry’s debut historical novel.

In January 1941, Soviet widow Sofya Karavayeva is first-chair violinist at the prestigious Leningrad Philharmonic, and she lives with her son, Aleksandr; daughter-in-law, Katya; and beloved teenage granddaughter, Yelena, in the city. After Aleksandr is arrested by the Soviet secret police and sent to a labor camp, Katya is kicked out of the Communist Party and put to work in a factory, and Sofya is demoted to a position with the Radio Committee Orchestra. Grandmother and granddaughter are safe, however, and soon, each finds love: Sofya with her former lover Vasili Antonov, a navy admiral and recent widower who’s secretly the father of her son, Aleksandr; and Yelena with Pavel Chernov, a handsome peer who, like her grandmother, plays violin. When Nazi Germany attacks the Soviet Union that summer, the men are called to fight for their country while the women struggle on the home front, hoarding food, lining up for dwindling rations each day, and eventually taking in two young children, sweet Alyosha and spirited Sasha, whose parents have been lost to war. Both Vasili and Pavel are constantly exposed to life-threatening danger, while Sofya and Yelena struggle to stay alive in a once-grand city now almost completely depleted of resources. In an author’s note, Parry says that she was motivated to write this novel due to what she saw as a lack of Eastern European representation in World War II narratives, and the result is a well-researched work that incorporates real-life historical figures, such as navy commissars, orchestra conductors, and journalists, as well as fully realized fictional characters with difficulties and triumphs of their own. Although the slow-paced novel tends to get bogged down in abundant details, sometimes to the point of repetition, it remains a compelling story, effectively told through the alternating perspectives of Sofya, Yelena, Pavel, and Vasili.

A thoroughly researched and sensitively written wartime drama.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191710655
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/09/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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